Silent Riot | Regulus Black

EIGHT

Regulus woke to a pounding headache, and the stale taste of firewhiskey in his mouth. He pushed back unfamiliar covers, and looked around the unfamiliar room. The clock said it was only 8:00, meaning he'd only been asleep four hours. That explained the headache.

It was empty, but he recognised it from the other night as the girls' room. He was lying in the bed Isolde had been in that night, and his eyes immediately wandered to the bed opposite him.

The lilac covers were thrown back, revealing the sheet all wrinkled and messy. The pillow was in an upright position, though slightly crooked.

Regulus groaned and buried his head under his pillow. The vague memories of last night brought a whole new level of embarrassment.

He rolled out of bed, and headed to the bathroom. He splashed water on his face in an attempt to wake himself up, then left the dorm.

.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.

Hastily throwing on his robes, Regulus dashed out of the dungeons. He didn't stop running until he got to the greenhouses, where he found- with much relief- that Herbology had not yet started, as everyone was waiting outside. He found Gemma and the others amongst the crowd.

'Hey,' Gemma said, spotting him. He felt his mouth go slightly dry. What would she think of him, after last night? Did she even want to talk to him?

'Can I um.. talk to you for a second?' He said, feeling his voice go up an octave.

'Sure,' Gemma said, as though she'd known all along that he'd want to. He led her toward the back of the greenhouses.

'I'm surprised your already awake,' she said casually. 'I thought you'd have a much worse hangover.'

'I'm sorry,' he blurted.

'Okay.'

'I've never had alcohol before. In my life.'

'I could tell.'

'I don't know what came over me.'

'It's okay,' Gemma said slowly.

'Really?'

'Yeah. The whole point of friends is that you can embarass yourself, you know.' But you're different, he thought.

'I guess,' he replied.

'You may want to do your tie up though,' she said, pointing to it. It was dangling loosely around his neck.

'Right,' he said. 'Yeah.' He fumbled with it for a moment, until she lost patience. She reached out and knotted it for him, hands grazing his jumper slightly. It sent shivers down his spine.

When she was done, she looked up an smiled at him. He returned it, following her back to the others.

'Ah look,' Ted said. 'So kind of you to join us.' Regulus smiled.

'I can't come to quidditch practise today,' Gemma told them. Regulus stopped smiling.

'Why?' He asked.

'She has some stupid detention in the hospital wing with Sirius goddamn Black,' Isolde informed him. Regulus caught Gemma watching him intently, and attempted to pass it off as nothing.

'You sound annoyed,' Luke commented.

'I am,' Iz said. 'Of course McGonagall sets her up with some stupid Gryffindor.'

'Let's talk about something else,' Gemma said decidedly. Regulus was glad.

'I know what we can discuss,' Luke said. Ted looked at him sharply.